I always knew dogs had an incredible sense of smell, but did you know they can smell 100,000 times better than humans? Or that dogs can smell things up to 40 feet underground?

There’s an article from the Animal Health Care Center newsletter about a dog’s sense of smell, it contains some very informative information.

Here are six interesting facts, how many did you know?

1. The USDA uses Jack Russell Terriers to detect brown tree snakes hidden on cargo being loaded on planes in Guam.

2. The US Customs and Border Protection has 800 canine teams which look for explosives, drugs, concealed people, and even hidden currency.

3. Dogs check international travelers at borders and airports for agricultural contraband and find 75,000 items a year.

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In Salina, KS breed specific legislation (BSL)  was passed in 2005 which bans owning unregistered pit bulls and mixed breeds that are predominantly pit bull. If a pit bull is found it can be removed from the owner and either put down or possibly re-homed outside Salina.

Pit bull is a term commonly used to describe several breeds of dog, many breed-specific laws use the term “pit bull” to refer to the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and dogs with significant mixes of these breeds.

Recently a dog named Lucey was almost put down due to mistaken identity.  It all began when Angie Cartwright was pet-sitting for her brother and his dog got loose. Animal control officers picked up the dog and when he was returned saw Lucey.

The officers thought she looked like a pit bull and told Cartwright they were taking her in for testing, a DNA test. I found it interesting that they offered that option, as you’ll see in a minute it can be a lifesaving test.

Here are the details from KansasCity.com.

Today, Lucey is home, and Cartwright credits a genetic test kit that helps pet owners identify the heritage of their mixed-breed dogs.

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I know many of us know our dogs are veritable Einsteins, what with all the shenanigans they pull. I know my three are, with Mothball our cat scoring a  mere Hawking on that scale.

A recent study performed on dog intelligence has proven what we already know – the average dog is on par with that of a two and a half year old . . . human.

The Telegraph has the details on the study along with the top ten brightest and dimmest breeds.

Researchers have found that dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 words and gestures, can count up to five and can perform simple mathematical calculations.

Using tests originally designed to demonstrate the development of language, pre-language and basic arithmetic in human children, the researchers were able to show that the average dog is far more intelligent than they are given credit for.

“The average dog is about as bright linguistically as a human two-year-old,” said Professor Stanley Coren, a leading expert on canine intelligence at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver who has carried out the work.

“This means they can understand about 165 words, signs and signals. Those in the top 20 per cent were able to understand as many as 250 words and signals, which is about the same as a two and a half year old.

I know the first 15 words that Bo learned. Just insert any of the following into Bo wanna go for a —-? [ride, drive, excursion, expedition, hitch, jaunt, joyride, lift, outing, run, spin, tour, transportation, turn or whirl]

Of course there’s always R – I – D – E. I don’t know whether that counts for four words or just one. Let’s just say the average Dogster out there already knows their canines are brighter than a baby. This is true even if Fido likes to eat cat poop.

Any stories out there that shows how brilliant your pup is?

Pic is of smart Dogster member Maximillian the Trickster.

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The Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign is a global effort to prevent, treat and cure cancer.

By funding more than 100 canine cancer studies, they have tacked the no. 1 killer of dogs and helped veterinarians better detect and treat the disease.

Read up on some of their current studies and learn about the progress the MAF is making to help win the war against cancer.

Progress in Dog Health:

CANCER:  “Tyrosine Kinases in Canine Hemangiosarcoma” D08CA-050, Oregon State University, Dr. Stuart C. Helfand

Description: Hemangiosarcoma remains one of the deadliest canine cancers. Despite treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery, dogs rarely live beyond six months after diagnosis. New approaches are needed to improve the survival time of dogs afflicted with this devastating disease. This study will expand on the research team’s previous research into a novel class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors that may have the potential to control the growth of hemangiosarcoma. The results will help to clarify abnormalities that contribute to hemangiosarcoma proliferation and may ultimately lead to new treatment options for this aggressive cancer.

Update: Researchers from Oregon State University are expanding on prior Morris Animal Foundation-funded research into a novel class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which may have the potential to control the growth of hemangiosarcoma cells. In addition, the researchers are attempting to clarify abnormalities that contribute to hemangiosarcoma cell growth and spread. The data generated to date are exciting, novel and promising and may ultimately lead to new drug treatment options for this aggressive cancer.

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Two recent studies, the first by Gabriella Lakatos a researcher in the Department of Ethology at Eotvos University, compared a 2-year-old child’s capacity to understand human pointing gestures with a dog’s.

The results show dogs had zero learning time to figure out the visual communication. The study goes on to claim that due to domestication dogs appear predisposed to read other human visual signals.

For her study on dogs and kids, Lakatos and her colleagues used a combination of finger-, elbow-, leg- and knee-pointing gestures to help dogs locate hidden food and, for children, a favorite toy.

Two-year-olds and dogs understood everything except knee-pointing and when the experimenter’s index finger pointed in a different direction than the protruding arm. For example, they were confused when the individual raised an arm in a certain direction, but used her finger to point the other way.

Human 3-year-olds, on the other hand, aced all of the tests.

Lakatos said that “in human children between the age of two and three years, important changes take place that go beyond the capacities of dogs.” Many of these changes have to do with development of language skills.

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A dog handler in Texas who uses scent to identify suspects in crimes has been named in two lawsuits.

In one case Calvin Lee Miller filed after being misidentified by Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Pikett in a robbery case. Pikett is the only dog handler in Texas who uses this technique and defense attorneys argue it is not a precise science.

The suits against Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Pikett were filed by Calvin Lee Miller, who spent 62 days in jail for robbery and sexual assault before being cleared, and a former Victoria County Sheriff’s captain who became a murder suspect before another man pleaded guilty in the case.

Pikett’s work figured in both cases, the Victoria Advocate reported Sunday. For example: In the case involving Miller, a swab from Miller and the scent from the assault victim’s sheets were sent to Pikett, whose three bloodhounds indicated Miller’s scent was on the sheets.

No laws or regulations govern scent lineups, but they’re admissible in courts across the nation. Only tighter oversight can keep shoddy scent IDs from becoming key evidence, a growing number of critics say.

“This is junk science. This isn’t even science. This is just junk,” said Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas. The group works to free wrongfully convicted inmates and recently started to investigate Pikett.

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Since this is a dog blog, a couple of times a month our boy Bo (woof!) thought it would be nice to get the news through a dog’s eyes.

Bo invites everyone to read a chapter from his upcoming book BAD TO THE BONE at Bo Knows Online. It’s a funny memoir about the crazy adventures we have shared together over the last 14 plus years, told through Bo’s eyes.

Okay Bo, take it from here…..

Today’s story: not weird, not crazy just another reason to love us four legged, fuzzy creatures.

That’s right, not only are we adorable, non-judgmental and eager to please, but now we’re also getting into the human healthcare game.

Turns out our noses are life savers. No, not the green, red or yellow variety but the soul saving kind. A sniff here and a sniff there and we can tell whether a diabetic’s blood sugar falls to a dangerous level.

Of course it is at this point the true test of being man’s best friend comes into play. Ask yourself, are you going to give up that Butterfinger bar in your fur suit to save that human?

While you decide, Reuters has the details on the research.

AYLESBURY, England (Reuters) – Dogs are being trained in Britain as potential life-savers to warn diabetic owners when their blood sugar levels fall to dangerously low levels.

Man’s best friend already has been shown capable of sniffing out certain cancer cells, and dogs have long been put to work in the hunt for illegal drugs and explosives.

Their new front-line role in diabetes care follows recent evidence suggesting a dog’s hyper-sensitive nose can detect tiny changes that occur when a person is about to have a hypoglycemic attack.

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An infectious superbug capable of being passed from pets to humans is on the rise and becoming increasingly problematic.

It was only a few years ago when scientists suspected that the bacteria was being transmitted by pets.

The superbug, a strain of bacteria known as MRSA, has evolved a resistance to antibiotics. It has long plagued hospitals but in recent years has become more common in homes. MRSA has even invaded beaches.

In the July edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Richard Oehler of the University of South Florida College of Medicine and colleagues lay out the latest thinking on MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and pets.

The infections can be transmitted by animal bites and most threaten young children, the researchers note.

“As community-acquired strains of MRSA increase in prevalence, a growing body of clinical evidence has documented MRSA colonization in domestic animals, often implying direct acquisition of S aureus infection from their human owners,” they write. “MRSA colonization has been documented in companion animals such as horses, dogs, and cats, and these animals have been viewed as potential reservoirs of infection.”

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I’ve reported on a few cloning stories but this one is a little different. The person who had their dog cloned  was the winner of  “The Golden Clone Giveaway” contest by California firm BioArts International. The firm held a contest to find the world’s most “cloneworthy” dog.

James Symington was the winner and his dog Trakr was cloned. Trakr was a search and rescue dog who helped find people in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. He found the last human survivor in the rubble of the twin towers.

Symington, a former Canadian police officer, choked back tears as he formally took possession of the five descendants of his beloved German shepherd named Trakr, who died in April.

“We’re here to celebrate that Trakr’s legacy lives on in these five beautiful puppies,” he told reporters. “If they have the same attributes Trakr did, then hopefully they’ll develop into world class search and rescue dogs.”

Symington and Trakr arrived at the site of the World Trade Center collapse, commonly referred to as Ground Zero, on September 12, 2001 and were one of the first K9 search and rescue teams on the scene.

“Trakr was an extraordinary search and rescue dog. His work at Ground Zero was the culmination of his career,” Symington said.

BioArts International, which says it offers the world’s first commercial dog cloning service, partnered with South Korea’s SooAm Biotech Research Foundation to clone Trakr under the direction of scientist Hwang Woo-Suk.

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A drug by Pfizer to treat canine mast cell tumors has just been approved by the FDA. This is fantastic news and a huge step forward when it comes to treating these type of tumors, which account for about 20% of canine skin cancers.

NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) efforts to develop new cancer drugs have yielded a breakthrough — for dogs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first cancer treatment specifically designed to treat dogs, Pfizer and the agency announced on Wednesday.

The drug Palladia was approved to treat canine mast cell tumors, a potentially serious type of cancer that accounts for about 20 percent of canine skin tumors, and one that can spread to other parts of the body, including lymph nodes, if not treated.

All cancer drugs now used in veterinary medicine originally were developed for use in humans and are not specifically approved for use in animals, the FDA said.

“This cancer drug approval for dogs is an important step forward for veterinary medicine,” Bernadette Dunham, director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement.

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